I can’t find any mention of cleaning it, anywhere. They probably do clean and polish it frequently, I mean they must right? However they (the Popes) are European… you know how they are about kissing. One cheek or two? Hey you’re family it’s on the mouth!
And since it’s a gold ring, maybe they just rely on all the lipstick it picks up to do the job. Lipstick is supposed to make gold shine, according to one smith I trained under. But usually you then need a slightly abrasive cloth to wipe it off.
“When it came to my turn, the person before me did it and I kissed his ring as well even though I was rather embarrassed by it,” Bishop Murphy remarked.
“Some people still try to kiss a bishop’s ring but, obviously, it’s out of touch with modern thinking,” he added.
Also there’s the Blarney Stone. Tyler Durden urine?